Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-09-30
than am able to give it. At the present

time 1t is papal church; twenty years be-
. fore the birth of Christ It was the sweating
room of public bath. But its construc
ton was so perfect, and its design such ,
marvel of architectural excellence anC
beauty, that 1t was diverted from the pur
pose for which 1t was intended, and con
secrated to the gods, as q temple worthy
of pagan divinity. 1t has survived tb,
wasting tooth of time, the ravages Of rec
: handed war, the crematipg teffecs of fire
J and the convulsioDs of old mother eartt
herself when buildings toppled over II
Rome like the card houses of children. Il
a few words the Pantheon is circular anC
dome shaped building, constructed OF
brick. It is without windows and re
ceives its light from the vault above-a cir
cular open space % feet In diameter.
The interior Is 142 feet In diameter and 143
feet In height. It is entered from por
tico containing sixteen Corinthian columns
fortv-six and one-half feet high and five
feet in diameter. Within its walls rest the
remains of King Victor Emanuel H. the
liberator of Italy and the friend of Carl
baldi. 1t is also the burial place OF
Raphael, the peer, if not prince, of the
cold masters"
In all the old cities We have visited the
churches have been an especial object OF
| interest, but nowhere else under the sun
do they present the same attractive fea
lures as In Rome You may go into almost
any church, at any hour of the day, and
you find worshippers on their knees before
some patron saint The Intrusion of CAB
bling bevy of sightseers from across the
Atlantic fails to divert them for an instant
from their devotions. Whilst Rome is
priest ridden and churches abound as mum
erously as real estate offices in Wichita
when the boom is on, ones sensibilities are
shocked when they see how little the Sab
bath day is respected as a day of rest. to
say nothing of day Of holiness. The
shops are kept open IS on week days and
| the traffic on the streets is scarcely dimin
| ished by single sand cart. In the evening
the public squares are Partisan in their
gaieiy, and the worship of Bacchus has
more devotees by gas light than Saint Pc
ter, Christ and the Virgin Mary In the
sombre light admitted through the stained
windows of all the churches at midday
Priests and monks are encountered every
where, and now and then 3 beggar swoops
down upon some unprotected American as
though he were his lawful spoil. Where
there is so much poverty there must also
be great wealth, else how could an army of
priests and city of churches be maintain
ed? The priests are proyerbially sleek and
fat, their parishioners Of the order OF the
lean kline" Having stated these whole
some truths and relieved my mind of the
weight of their importance | am prepared
to hasten on to description Of such
churches as our limited time permitted us
to visit.
In full view from our hotel stands the
Basilica of st. Maria Maggiore occupying
a central posit'o n.betwee wo squsr upon
which are erected one Of the obelisk, men
toned above, and column As feet high
with bronze statute Of the Madonna
The church is entered by broad fight oi
steps extending nearly If not quite
across the imposing front. 1t was
erected A. D. 352, and tradition says
that the cause which led to It's location on
this particular spot was miraculous fall of
snow In the month of August, which, as it
descended on this elevation, and nowhere
else was conclusive to the mind of Pope
Liberius that the Lord wanted temple
right here. When person has seen one
basilica, there is no new feature to beheld
in others, aside from decorations. This
resting on four columns of porphyTy. A
sarcophagus under the altar contains, SO
we were told, the remains of st. Matthew
and portions Of the manger cradle of
Christ. In one of the side rooms or chap
els Is painting of the virgin and Child,
said to be the artistic work of ST. Luke
Let me see: Luke, If l am not mistaken,
has been dead for over 1900 years. Whal
a remarkable souvenir of one Of the "four
witnesses" this isl The tomb Of Sexlus
the Fifth is here, and it is without ques-
ton an exquisite piece of workmanship
The late Pope Plus TX had designed that
his bones should find resting place here,
but his quarrel with the king precluded
him from applying to that parsonage for
the city. His remains have found a tenn
the church of St. Lorenzo.
We were told that the first gold brought
from America was given to the pope by
Ferdinand and Isabella to adorn the church.
The church of st. John of Latern,
founded by Constantine, is considered the
mother of churches. The bishop of Rome
takes his title from this church. Its late
bishop was Pope Plus TX aud the present
one is Leo Kill, Pope of Rome and head
OF the Catholic church. There are several
chapels in this church richly decofeted with
paintings, mosaics and statues Turn
whichever way you will and the eye rests
on some magnificent piece of sculpture
Above the high altar Is Gothic tabernacle
cOntsining the heads OF Peter and Paul.
As we passed out of this magnificent editice
the guide halted us and called our attention
to the huge bronze doors that have Just
closed behind US. These" said he. ':are
the bronze doors to the senate chamber that
in the days Of Julius Cesar, forty. four
before Christ, hung there facing the old
Roman forum"
Across the street or open space diagou-
ally IS the Scala Santa, reached by twenty |
eight marble steps, now encased In wood |
which it Is said our Savior descended after !
his coronation in the judgment. hall of |
PLATE. 1t is believed by the faithful that
these steps were removed from Jerusalem |
to Rome by the mother of Constantine,
and that they are straight goods" Mol
one is permitted to 60 up these stairs unless
they ascend them on their knees. We
found four persons doing penance in this
manner. and the thought occurred to me
as | cast my eye up to where vari
Gus stages had been attained
In this novel ascent, Of what
heinous crimes had these poor wretches
been guilty that q penance so humiliating
and exhausting should be required of them, |
and then | remembered that this was Rome
where the blind faith and usages of the
dark ages were still practiced. Martin
Luther had assembled these self same steps